The draft. Whichever you want to talk about … is very much an American thing.

The rest of the world, you collect players in a youth system and watch them develop. You keep a few, loan some others, release the rest. Especially the case in world soccer.

In the U.S. however, talent is typically distributed via a draft — and ordered system in which teams take turns making selections. Often based on “worst drafts first”.

Which makes drafts in North America a huge offseason news story. It has spawned an industry of people who do nothing but speculate over who should go first … and who should go 31st.

I was thinking of this, with the NBA draft coming up tomorrow, and decided to rank the drafts from the perspective of greatest interest to the average fan.

So, here we go, with five leagues on the clock, ranked from fifth to first.

5. Major League Soccer. North America’s top soccer league has a draft, yes, but only for college players, few of whom, these days, turn into stars. (This isn’t 1990.) The rise of youth academies and affiliated junior clubs with individual MLS teams has further reduced the interest in guys who are unlikely to have an impact. Not sure I know anyone who watches the MLS draft, held annually in January.

4. Major League Baseball. In terms of interest in the top-tier product, should be higher up the list. But overall interest is dampened here for several reasons: The incidence of first-round picks failing to make a major-league roster is high; in other sports, teams tend to identify the best players with far more accuracy. Also, the MLB draft lasts 40 rounds. That is 1,280 players. Only the most intense of wonks will know even half of the names called, most of them kids who have just graduated from high school. The average fan does not take a lot of interest in draft picks until they reach Single-A (at least) minor-league level and begin making an impression, further devaluing the draft itself.

3. NHL. I can’t say I follow this one. At all. But the National Hockey League seems to be constructed in such a way that teams know which players ought to go early in the draft, most of the time scoring stars are at the top and seen with the big club quickly. The rugged defenseman is less likely to break into the early picks. Meanwhile, the teams who get the scorers in the early rounds … fans love to follow that. Though not all seven rounds of it.

2. NFL. This was No. 1 until a few years ago because the NFL is the most popular league in America. Certainly, this is closely watched by hardcore fans, and the NFL draft offers hope for the worst clubs because of its worst-first, best-last draft order. But the NFL draft is painfully slow, needs three days to complete seven rounds and too often throws up semi-anonymous linemen in the first round — who may be as important as hell but is not particularly riveting from the fan perspective. “Yeah, we got the left tackle we really need!” Who says that? A must-watch event, but only the first round.

1. NBA. A few years ago, I would not have these guys here, but the NBA has moved to the top as super teams like the Warriors and Cavaliers push interest in the league ever higher, and as the importance of collecting talent via the draft rises.

The NBA’s draft lasts only two rounds: 60 players. That makes it the quickest of the drafts on this list — which is a positive. But the anticipation is stretched (and this also is a good thing) because the draft lottery, which IDs picks 1 through 14, is a news event in itself.

The NBA draft also is short enough that a serious fan will have some sort of opinion about whom should go where, because most of the incoming players will have been stars in college or in another country. (And the players annually put on a sort of fashion show that some fans find fascinating.)

The anticipation of this particular NBA draft seems higher than ever, as the league continues to climb in popularity.